Written Answers Tuesday 6 February 2007

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the costs to farmers of implementing Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) measures; what representations it has received regarding the costs of implementation, and whether a regulatory impact assessment has been carried out on the application of the IPPC measures to (a) pig and (b) poultry farmers.

Sarah Boyack: The Executive consulted widely on the implications of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive prior to the new controls being introduced in 2000. This included the preparation of a Regulatory Impact Assessment which estimated compliance costs, in general terms, for all industrial sectors falling within the scope of the Directive, including the intensive farming sector.

  The Executive also participated in a study in 2006 which estimated the costs incurred by industry during the first five years of implementation of the IPPC Directive. This concluded that, in general, pig and poultry farmers incurred costs that were lower than other industrial sites under the Directive.In addition, IPPC compliance costs have been reduced for intensive farming by the introduction of Standard Farming Installation Rules (SFIRs). These are designed to make it simpler for pig and poultry farmers to meet the requirements of IPPC.The Executive received a number of comments about the cost of implementing IPPC. These included representations from pig and poultry farmers, mainly relating to charges introduced by Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Charge levels have been substantially reduced for farms that comply with SFIRs.

Audiology

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for assessment for and fitting of hearing aids, broken down by NHS board, and when it expects the national audiology collection programme, being established by the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland, to provide such information.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally. However, ISD has been working with NHS boards to create a data set to establish maximum waiting times from referral to fitting. Data has been collected since April 2006. ISD recommend that data is collected over four quarters to assess the trend before it is published. This information will be available in June 2007.

EventScotland

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the EventScotland budget was in each of the last three years.

Patricia Ferguson: The budget available to EventScotland in each of the last three years was £3 million in 2004-05, rising to £5 million in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Gambling

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the impact of the introduction of super casinos would be on the level of gambling addiction.

Nicol Stephen: The impact of the introduction of a super casino in Scotland, including the effect on gambling addiction, was considered in the study Research on the Social Impact of Gambling. This was published by the Executive on 12 September 2006. A copy can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/Research/17692/SocialResearchPubs/EntLifelongLearning .

Health

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation allows a NHS board to require that a patient pays for all aspects of their treatment if they opt to pay for a particular drug treatment not available on the NHS due to cost.

Mr Andy Kerr: There is no legislation that allows NHS boards to require that a patient pays for all aspects of their treatment if they opt to pay for a particular drug treatment not available from the NHS.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much addictions have cost the NHS in each of the last five years.

Lewis Macdonald: AlcoholAlcohol problems are estimated to cost NHSScotland around £110 million per annum. This includes GP resources and community prescribing, secondary care costs, where the majority of costs relate to hospitalisation days, and NHS resources for voluntary sector services.TobaccoThe estimated costs to the NHSScotland of treating smoking related illnesses is £200 million per annum.Illegal DrugsThe Scottish Executive will shortly commission research on the economic and social costs of illegal drug use in Scotland, including the costs of addiction to the NHS and other organisations.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients over the age of 75 and admitted to an acute hospital were recorded as sustaining an injury during their stay in hospital in each year since 2000, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: We would expect all hospitals to record any injury suffered by any patient, but information to the level of detail sought is not held centrally.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio of charge nurses to staff nurses was in each year since 2000, also broken down by hospital and category of hospital ward.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. However, information on the number of nurses by grade is available in the Scottish Health Statistics website under workforce statistics: http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce Table E5.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many agency nurses were employed in hospitals in each year since 2000, broken down by hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. Workforce statistics are available on the use of agency nurses and midwives by NHS board.

  The following table 1 shows the figures for registered agency nurses. The following table 2 shows the figures for non-registered agency nurses.

  

 Table 1
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Average Whole-Time Equivalent


Total 
562.1
725.1
818.3
732.2
739.4
648.1
678.1


Registered 
412.6
328.6
438.7
440.4
472.7
432.9
445.8


NHS Argyll and Clyde 
16.8
12.0
38.3
40.8
45.8
53.6
90.5


NHS Ayrshire and Arran 
8.9
7.1
5.6
14.4
11.9
9.8
11.1


NHS Borders 
0.3
0.3
2.4
4.9
6.8
6.8
5.9


NHS Dumfries and Galloway 
0.0
-
0.0
-
0.2
1.3
1.5


NHS Fife 
23.1
28.9
28.9
24.0
25.7
29.4
48.3


NHS Forth Valley 
6.7
8.3
8.7
10.6
8.4
19.3
25.4


NHS Grampian 
14.5
14.0
30.1
40.0
39.8
29.5
27.2


NHS Greater Glasgow 
148.9
47.5
162.7
146.2
129.4
127.8
114.9


NHS Highland 
23.2
2.7
1.2
1.1
0.5
3.5
5.9


NHS Lanarkshire 
3.2
25.4
39.1
29.7
30.7
5.1
6.4


NHS Lothian 
157.4
169.1
90.7
102.9
167.7
136.5
97.1


NHS Orkney 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


NHS Shetland 
0.5
0.2
1.2
0.1
-
0.8
1.0


NHS Tayside 
9.0
13.1
29.0
20.3
2.4
4.4
7.1


NHS Western Isles 
-
-
-
-
-
1.1
-


Golden Jubilee National Hospital
x
x
-
5.3
3.3
2.2
2.9



  

Table 2
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Average Whole-Time Equivalent


Non registered 
149.5
254.7
379.6
291.8
266.7
215.1
232.3


NHS Argyll and Clyde 
16.4
58.3
63.2
54.9
35.9
35.0
50.3


NHS Ayrshire and Arran 
2.1
1.2
0.1
0.3
-
0.1
0.3


NHS Borders 
-
0.3
0.5
0.9
0.4
9.0
4.2


NHS Dumfries and Galloway 
-
0.0
-
-
-
-
-


NHS Fife 
4.1
17.0
20.6
22.8
13.7
17.4
14.5


NHS Forth Valley 
13.4
9.9
17.5
10.1
9.3
9.2
10.4


NHS Grampian 
6.4
14.2
42.7
39.4
18.5
3.0
10.8


NHS Greater Glasgow 
33.2
43.5
98.1
59.3
74.0
56.9
65.0


NHS Highland 
4.5
7.1
8.1
11.4
10.6
5.0
19.1


NHS Lanarkshire 
1.6
12.6
25.0
7.1
13.5
2.1
1.5


NHS Lothian 
67.8
84.9
90.0
84.5
89.6
77.0
55.0


NHS Orkney 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


NHS Shetland 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


NHS Tayside 
-
5.8
13.9
-
0.7
0.1
1.1


NHS Western Isles 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


National Services Scotland (formerly CommonServices Agency)
x
x
-
-
-
-
0.1


Golden Jubilee National Hospital 
x
x
-
1.0
0.4
0.3
0.0



  Source: ISD Scotland NHS Workforce Statistics.

  Latest statistics at March 2006.

  Note: To calculate the average whole-time equivalent (WTE), WTE is taken as a contribution of 37.5 hours per week X 52 = 1,950 hours per year.

  Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation, is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under workforce statistics, at: http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were recorded as having fallen from hospital beds in each year since 2000, also broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: We would expect all hospitals to record falls suffered by any patient, but information to the level of detail sought is not held centrally.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients over the age of 75 and admitted to an acute hospital were subsequently diagnosed with MRSA in each year since 2000, broken down by hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: Rates for individual hospitals are not available from Health Protection Scotland’s reporting system.

Identity Fraud

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have reported being victims of identity fraud in each of the last five years, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: Data held centrally on crimes of fraud recorded by the police does not distinguish identity theft as a separate crime category.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prosecutions there were and (b) fixed penalty notices were issued for (i) dog fouling and (ii) dropping litter in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information on the number of persons proceeded against for dog fouling and litter offences is given in the following table. The number of fixed penalty notices for littering issued by police and local authorities under their respective powers in Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is not held centrally. The information available on dog fouling fixed penalty notices was given in the answer to question S2W-14542 on 9 March 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Dog Fouling and Littering Offences1, by Police Force Area, 2002-03 to 2004-05

  

Police Force Area
Dog fouling
Litter


2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Central
-
-
-
2
-
3


Dumfries and Galloway
-
1
-
1
-
-


Fife
-
-
-
-
-
-


Grampian
2
1
-
1
1
1


Lothian and Borders
1
2
-
3
1
3


Northern
1
 
 
1
 
 


Strathclyde
1
1
-
21
19
30


Tayside
5
4
1
7
7
2


Scotland
10
9
1
36
28
43



  Note: 1. Where main offence.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of people convicted of a non-violent offence (a) received a custodial sentence, (b) received a custodial sentence of less than three months and (c) served a custodial sentence of less than three months in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table. All prisoners who are sentenced to custody will serve the required period of imprisonment, allowing for any time spent on remand and prisoner release arrangements.

  Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Non-Violent Offences1,2, 2000-01 to 2004-05

  

 
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Total persons with a charge proved
100,957
108,677
113,625
118,673
118,592


Of which received a custodial sentence
13,195
13,945
14,501
13,742
13,653


% of charge proved
14
13
13
12
12


Of which received a custodial sentence < 3 months
4,030
4,336
4,499
4,378
4,714


% of charge proved
4
4
4
4
4



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Includes all crimes and offences except non-sexual crimes of violence and petty assault.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of convictions had a substantial connection to an addiction in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on whether or not an offender had an addiction is not recorded in the statistics held centrally on convictions.

Local Government

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all local authorities have been consulted on any new responsibilities and costs resulting from any legislation introduced since January 2006 and, if so, whether it will publish their responses, broken down by local authority.

Ms Margaret Curran: Public consultation is an integral part of the policy formulation process in the Scottish Executive. As part of that consultation process, local authorities are consulted routinely. The Executive considers in detail all responses provided to consultation documents and takes these into account when finalising its legislative proposals. Copies of the responses to consultation exercises are always made available to the public, except where the respondents have asked for them to be treated as confidential.

NHS Complaints

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints were made to NHS boards about the level of patient care in each year since 2000, also broken down by hospital and category of ward.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table provides information on complaints made to NHS boards, including the State Hospital Carstairs, where "treatment" was raised as an issue, broken down by financial year. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by hospital and category of ward or by calendar year. All available statistical information on complaints made against Hospital and Community Services is published annually and can be found at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4362.html .

  

NHS Board
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Argyll and Clyde
156
137
121
172
120
100


Ayrshire and Arran
149
179
115
177
161
143


Borders
39
33
36
57
32
39


Dumfries and Galloway
117
92
93
73
56
103


Fife
97
101
108
145
188
210


Forth Valley
57
69
66
93
104
108


Grampian
186
177
151
170
192
273


Greater Glasgow
431
365
332
408
380
384


Highland
120
77
106
108
135
135


Lanarkshire
230
298
273
276
253
237


Lothian
376
418
373
386
452
409


Orkney
7
2
5
8
5
6


Shetland
6
13
8
13
19
15


Tayside
171
171
97
147
162
165


Western Isles
12
13
23
12
16
21


State Hospital Carstairs
11
9
55
51
28
25

NHS Complaints

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints to NHS boards related to inadequate levels of patient care resulted in patients or their families taking legal action against the NHS in each year since 2000, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Full information to the level of detail sought is not held centrally. The following table gives information on the numbers of new cases where legal action alleging clinical negligence has been taken over the whole of Scotland. A breakdown by NHS board would not be appropriate, since in the case of smaller boards it might enable individual cases to be identified.

  

Year
Number of Complaints


2000
477


2001
465


2002
507


2003
460


2004
454


2005
400


2006
465

NHS Complaints

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much compensation was paid to patients or their families as a result of inadequate levels of NHS patient care in each year since 2000, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table gives details of claims paid by NHSScotland, by financial year. It is not however possible to distinguish between payments for clinical and non-clinical claims. Non-clinical claims against the NHS include claims under, for example, employer’s liability, industrial injury, employment law and third party liability.

  

NHS Board
2001-02
  (£)
2002-03
(£)
2003-04
(£)
2004-05
(£)
2005-06
(£)


Argyll and Clyde
265,519
2,558,831
270,041
1,219,640
1,019,142


Ayrshire and Arran
828,865
671,398
230,560
234,702
152,750


Borders
5,000
20,111
13,650
157,580
85,500


Dumfries and Galloway
701,116
362,018
219,096
65,927
198,171


Fife
51,693
125,346
492,449
320,806
106,000


Forth Valley
292,525
112,954
2,518,400
553,359
288,023


Grampian
175,375
77,250
199,313
912,877
413,810


Greater Glasgow
2,894,856
2,078,799
1,419,508
1,441,834
2,737,011


Highland
220,276
197,581
1,324,739
159,490
1,798,121


Lanarkshire
51,480
406,282
569,846
275,250
197,500


Lothian
815,557
1,933,644
879,506
437,323
182,931


Orkney
5,500
0
0
29,120
6,332


Shetland
7,700
78,345
10,200
2,000
0


Tayside
138,353
98,150
105,163
2,460,004
603,380


Western Isles
5,500
0
0
1,500
0


State Hospitals
0
0
0
0
0


Common Services Agency
0
0
55,000
49,000
40,000


Scottish Ambulance Service
3,000
0
0
0
0


Totals
6,462,315
8,720,709
8,307,471
8,320,412
7,810,671

NHS Complaints

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average response time was to formal complaints made to an NHS board by patients or their families in each year since 2000, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table shows the median time (working days) to deal with complaints broken down by NHS board and financial year. Information broken down by calendar year is not available. All available statistical information on complaints made against Hospital and Community Services is published annually and can be found at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4362.html .

  

NHS Board
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Argyll and Clyde
15
19
19
15
28
32


Ayrshire and Arran
18
18
19
19
16
19


Borders
18
19
20
20
18
13


Dumfries and Galloway
15
13
18
9
15
20


Fife
19
20
20
24
20
19


Forth Valley
19
22
23
21
20
20


Grampian
20
18
19
17
20
16


Greater Glasgow
22
20
19
19
19
19


Highland 
17
16
18
19
18
21


Lanarkshire
17
19
17
18
17
16


Lothian
16
15
16
13
14
16


Orkney
15
22
22
20
14
12


Shetland
14
17
17
19
18
19


Tayside
19
24
27
21
17
20


Western Isles
34
35
33
27
28
34


Scottish Ambulance Service
7
10
14
20
20
20


State Hospital, Carstairs 
7
11
18
19
20
16

NHS Complaints

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints made to NHS boards concerning levels of patient care resulted in remedial action being taken by the hospital concerned in each year since 2000.

Mr Andy Kerr: I would expect every justified complaint to an NHS board to be followed by appropriate remedial action. The great majority of complaints are, however, resolved locally and detailed information on their outcomes is not held centrally. Details of any remedial action required on complaints against the NHS upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman are available in her reports, which are laid before Parliament and are publicly available on: http://www.spso.org.uk/ .

Parliamentary Questions

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28873 by Mr Andy Kerr on 31 October 2006, why it did not provide a substantive answer to the question by the date it was due for answer and when it will now provide a substantive answer to the question.

Mr Andy Kerr: The answer to S2W-28873 was provided on 6 February 2007.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed by Fisheries Research Services at (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally, also broken down by grade.

Sarah Boyack: Staff numbers and grades within Fisheries Research Services are as follows:

  

Grades
FRS Marine Laboratory
FRS Freshwater Laboratory


A Grades
81
13


B Grades
192
25


C Grades
25
5


SCS
2
0


Total
300
43

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff employed by Fisheries Research Services at (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally have length of service of (i) less than one year, (ii) one to two years, (iii) three to nine years, (iv) 10 to 20 years and (v) more than 20 years.

Sarah Boyack: Length of service of Fisheries Research Services staff is as follows:

  

Lengths of Service
FRS Marine Laboratory
FRS Freshwater Laboratory


(i) Less than one year
27
6


(ii) One to two years
14
3


(iii) Three to nine years
151
12


(iv) 10 to 20 years
37
7


(v) More than 20 years
71
15


Total
300
43

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff vacancies there were at Fisheries Research Services’ (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally in each year since 2000.

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there were for staff vacancies at Fisheries Research Services’ (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally in each year since 2000.

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant staff posts at Fisheries Research Services’ (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally have had to be re-advertised in each year since 2000.

Sarah Boyack: Details of vacant posts, applications and re-advertisements at Fisheries Research Services are as follows:

  

Dates
FRS Location
Number of Vacancies
Number of Applications
Number of 
Re-Advertisements


1 April 2004 – 31 March 2005
Marine Laboratory
11
195
1


1 April 2004 – 31 March 2005
Freshwater Laboratory
1
5
0


1 April 2005 – 31 March 2006
Marine Laboratory
7
57
1


1 April 2005 – 31 March 2006
Freshwater Laboratory
7
100
0


1 April 2006 – present
Marine Laboratory
13
166
3


1 April 2006 – present
Freshwater Laboratory
2
27
1



  Figures for the years 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2004 are not held centrally.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff turnover was at Fisheries Research Services’ (a) Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and (b) Freshwater Laboratory Faskally in each year since 2000.

Sarah Boyack: Staff turnover at Fisheries Research Services is as follows:

  

Year
Staff Turnover –
Marine Laboratory
Staff Turnover –
Freshwater Laboratory


2004
11
3


2005
14
5


2006
19
2


2007
1
0



  Figures for the years 2000 - 2003 are not held centrally.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Information Commissioner

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much expenditure the Scottish Information Commissioner has incurred from the SPCB’s central contingency fund to date in (a) legal costs and (b) court costs in defending the case of The Scottish Ministers v The Scottish Information Commissioner (William Alexander’s Application).

John Scott: No legal or court costs have been incurred to date from the SPCB’s central contingency in relation to the Scottish Information Commissioner defending the case referred to in the question.

Scottish Information Commissioner

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it expects the Scottish Information Commissioner to apply for from the SPCB’s central contingency fund for (a) legal costs and (b) court costs in defending the case of The Scottish Ministers v The Scottish Information Commissioner (William Alexander’s Application).

John Scott: Whether or not an application to the contingency fund is likely to be made is dependent on a number of factors including any award of costs determined by the courts and if an appeal is marked.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-30642 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 January 2007, whether it will list all independent and external scrutiny bodies that report to the Scottish Parliament in respect of inspections and audits of local authorities.

John Scott: The SPCB is responsible only for the budgetary provision of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Scottish Information Commissioner, the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland, the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland and the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner all of whom are required to lay reports before the Parliament. None of these bodies, however, report in respect of inspections and audits of local authorities.

  The member may find it helpful to see the list of scrutiny bodies covered by Professor Lorne Crerar’s Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland which is attached to Professor Crerar’s letter of 13 June 2006 to the scrutiny bodies. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/PublicServiceReform/IndependentReviewofReg/review-info/letter-13-June-2006.

  The member may also find it helpful to see the latest cumulative list of papers laid (July 2006 to date) before the Parliament which is available on the Parliament's website: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/factsheets/documents/Laidpapers.pdf.